Stacy Confesses 16 Purse Thefts

Stacy Confesses 16 Purse Thefts

'Spite' Stealings Date

Back To Fall Of '49

Robert H. Stacy, the 30-year-old University teaching fellow who has already admitted setting the $600,000 Haven Hall fire, has confessed a string of 16 purse thefts, police said today.

Officers said Stacy could give no reason for the thefts except that it made him unhappy to see people enjoying themselves.

Stacy would get "peeved about it" when he watched others enjoying themselves, police said, and chose the purse larcenies as a way "to take it out on them."

His circuit court arraignment is tentatively set for 9 o'clock tomorrow morning 

No Total Estimated

Officers said no estimate of the total amount of money taken in the thefts is yet available.

The series of "spite" thefts dates back to the fall of 1949, they said. They occurred in churches, religious centers, public schools, and University buildings, including Lane Hall, the Natural Science Building, and University Elementary School.

Zelda Clarkson, Stacy's 38-year-old former girl friend who informed officials that Stacy had told her he set Haven Hall fire, has still not been located at her Pontiac address.

Stacy confessed both the Haven Hall blaze and three minor fires after his arrest last Tuesday, according to police.